When I was at university, I was trained to put emotion to the side. It weaves through all the work we do, particularly around professional conduct. After all, lawyers can be asked to undertake any number of tasks they find morally or emotionally objectionable. Lawyers defend child molesters; they support parents that may seem unfitContinue reading “Putting emotion to the side, and the personal price of impartial legal advice”
Tag Archives: professionals
DP v Hillingdon and the issue that may or may not be
If you practice in this area of law, or work with people who do, you’ll have heard of this case, because it has set a lot of hares running in a number of cases. If you don’t, then you might not have given this case much thought unless your local authority legal team sends bulletinsContinue reading “DP v Hillingdon and the issue that may or may not be”
A response to the government’s Christmas present to us all
Just a quick post today that as far as I can tell, the provisions enabling respite that I referred to in my previous post about those in supported accommodation visiting family during the pandemic continue in the latest iteration of the coronavirus regulations in all tiers (even tier 4). My previous post is here. SoContinue reading “A response to the government’s Christmas present to us all”
The dangers of capacity assessment shopping
I’d like to talk about what happens when you’ve got a capacity assessment that doesn’t match up with the frontline professionals’ views. This has come up for me, most recently, in the context of the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards but it can come up in other contexts too. I’d also like to reflect on whatContinue reading “The dangers of capacity assessment shopping”
Court process: displacement of nearest relative – part 3 obtaining the order and what happens after that
This post discusses the process after an application has been made to displace and/or appoint a nearest relative in the county court. Details on how to get to that point and in my previous posts. So, the legal representative will send the part 8 claim form, a draft order and the evidence provided by theContinue reading “Court process: displacement of nearest relative – part 3 obtaining the order and what happens after that”
Coronavirus lockdown: do all planned visits to family homes have to stop?
The answer, in short is, in my opinion, no. However, there are a number of issues to consider before a weekend with the family, or some formal respite, is supported. In this post, I’ll talk about 3 big issues, 2 legal, 1 practical. But before we get started, I just want to detail the kindContinue reading “Coronavirus lockdown: do all planned visits to family homes have to stop?”
Visiting in care homes
This continues to be a hot topic, understandably. And pressure seems to be mounting, with an overdue policy shift towards enabling visits beginning to develop. And rightly so. A ban for a few weeks was one thing, but it’s been months now, and there is no real end in sight. So this post will talkContinue reading “Visiting in care homes”
Winter is coming – a brief word on the adult social care winter plan
There is so much guidance coming out at the moment that it is almost impossible to keep on top of it. I’m not even going to try to comment on every bit of it as it comes up. And I’ve already read Alex Ruck-Keane’s walk-through of the latest MCA guidance, I’m sure most of youContinue reading “Winter is coming – a brief word on the adult social care winter plan”
Court process: displacement of nearest relative – part 2 making the application
This is the second post in this series. If you haven’t seen it, it’s available here. So what happens after the AMHP has spoken to the legal team and its been agreed that a displacement, or appointment, of a nearest relative is needed? Well, let me tell you. In my authority, as I’m sure inContinue reading “Court process: displacement of nearest relative – part 2 making the application”
Court process: displacement of nearest relative – part 1 identifying the need for displacement/appointment
I am sure that any of you who are AMHP trained are familiar with the provisions of S29 Mental Health Act 1983 that enable the county court to displace a nearest relative and appoint someone to act as nearest relative in their place. But unless you have done this before, or have received some practicalContinue reading “Court process: displacement of nearest relative – part 1 identifying the need for displacement/appointment”